The coaches who were polled were allowed to anonymously share their thoughts on their selections, with one calling Williams "the Rodney Dangerfield of college basketball. He gets no respect." Another said Virginia Tech "hit a home run" with the hire of Williams.

"Bruce (Pearl) is probably the third most successful coach in the SEC right now ... and Auburn hired him before anybody else had a chance to make a run at him," said another coach.

In six seasons as Marquette's head coach, Williams went 139–69 and made five straight NCAA tournaments, including one Elite Eight. In 19 seasons as a head coach, including stops at Tennessee, Milwaukee and Division II Southern Indiana, Pearl is 462–145.